Denmark was in dominant form much of the week and that wouldn’t change on finals day of the FZ Forza Denmark International. The only final that didn’t feature all Danish players was the womens singles where Anastasia Prokopenko faced off against Agnese Allegrini. Prokopenko won the match and the championship with two straight games 21-15, 21-15.

The top seeded mens singles player Jan Jorgensen had a similarly straight forward win as was the case much of the week for the speedy Dane. A more straight forward path to the finals must have helped Jorgensen as he defeated his fellow countryman Hans Kristian Vittinghus in two games 21-15, 21-12. Vittinghus had to struggle through a number of 3 game matches to find his place in the final, and it appeared to have taken it’s toll on him.

In the womens doubles Line Kruse and Marie Røpke continued their amazing run by defeating their higher ranked compatriots Maria Helsbøl and Anne Skelbæk in two games 21-14, 21-14.

Maria Helsbøl would have to suffer disappointment once again in the mixed doubles when she and her partner Rasmus Bonde were defeated by second seeds Mad Pieler Kolding and Julie Houmann 21-13, 21-15.

Finally in the mens doubles in yet another all Danish affair Rasmus Bonde was able to make up for his mixed doubles loss when him and Anders Kristiansen won a close three game match over Mikkel Elbjørn Larsen and Christian Skovgaard 21-14, 19-21, 21-16.

Day 1 began with Bao Chunlai’s win over Taufik Hidayat in Group A, the Chinese player starting his campaign with a two game victory over Hidayat 21-18, 26-24. Lee Chong Wei and Hsieh Yu Hsin ended play on Court 1, with the Malaysian comfortably winning 21-11, 21-12 to finish day 1 tied with Bao Chunlai at the top of group A.

Group B’s opening match was the All-Danish match between Peter Gade and Jan Jorgensen; the pair had met twice in recent months with both players taking one match of the two. Gade was in dominant form and took the match in 36 minutes 21-12, 21-15. Park Sung Hwan took the other match in the group 28-26, 21-18 to put Boonsak Ponsana within one match of elimination.

Day 2 will eliminate one of Jan Jorgensen or Boonsak Ponsana, as the two play each other in the third match on Court 1. Bao Chunlai and Lee Chong Wei can almost guarantee progression tomorrow with wins in their matches. Whilst Peter Gade and Park Sung Hwan are fighting for top spot in Group B tomorrow in the match which is 4th on Court 2.

Group A in the Men’s Doubles began with a surprise two game defeat by favourites Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong to Mohd Tazari Mohd Fairuzizuan and Abdul Latif Mohd Zakry 21-15, 21-17. The other match in the group saw lone Chinese pairing of Xu Chen and Guo Zhendong beating Indonesian’s Rian Sukmawan
and Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki 26-24, 22-20 to edge them closer to the last 4.

Group B began with Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe winning their opening match against Chandra and Setiawan 21-16, 21-18. Group B favourites Lee and Jung started their campaign with a two game victory over Clark and Robertson of England, winning 21-18, 21-13.

In the Women’s Singles, there were wins for Wong Mew Choo and Porntip Buranaparsertsuk in Group A and for Jie Yao and Juliane Schenk in Group B to put them one step closer to the knockout stages. Saina Newhal must win her next 2 matches to have any chance of qualifying for the last 4, she starts play off on Court 1 on Thursday.